Review: Sing Sweet Nightingale by Erica Cameron

She pledged her voice to Orane, the man she loves—someone she only sees in her dreams. Each night, she escapes to Paradise, the world Orane created for her, and she sings for him. Mariella never believed she could stay in Paradise longer than a night, but two weeks before her eighteenth birthday, Orane hints that she may be able to stay forever.

Hudson Vincent made a pledge to never fight again.

Calease, the creature who created his dream world, swore that giving up violence would protect Hudson. But when his vow caused the death of his little brother, Hudson turned his grief on Calease and destroyed the dream world. The battle left him with new abilities and disturbing visions of a silent girl in grave danger—Mariella.

Now, Hudson is fighting to save Mariella’s life while she fights to give it away. And he must find a way to show her Orane’s true intentions before she is lost to Paradise forever.

Description taken from Goodreads.

I knew from the beginning that how much I liked Sing Sweet Nightingale would depend on how well Erica portrayed Mariella’s delusion and Hudson’s attempt to save her from it, so I was weary of the story and put off reading it. However, I got everything I wanted and more. The dark world that Erica created was spot-on and perfect for paranormal fans.

Throughout the novel, I was always a little disappointed with Mariella. She wasn’t quite what I wanted her to be at any one moment, though in the end, I enjoyed her character development and the way she becomes disillusioned after meeting Hudson. Her doubt made the story slow a little in the middle, but it picked back up as she started to see what was wrong with her world.

While I was disappointed with Mariella, Orane, Hudson and Calease were exactly as I expected them to be.

Initially, I was pretty meh about Hudson gaining his mystical visions and his freaky eyes (they’re pitch black). I usually don’t mind cursing in books, but with Hudson, it just felt uneccesary and a weak addition to the story.

Once I got over those two things, I really enjoyed learning more about these characters and their battle against one another over the dreamscape. Orane was a little one-dimensional, but served his role very well.

I loved the premise of this book and the overall execution of it, and I’d probably recommend it to people who don’t usually like paranormal. It’s not as romance-based as most paranormal, but it has many of the same elements, and it explores the consequences of demons and the real dangers of them while still showing how dangerous they could be. Quite honestly, it was refreshing to see this in paranormal YA and I’m looking forward to the next book in the series! 3.5 stars.

Series: The Dream War Saga #1

Review: Sing Sweet Nightingale by Erica Cameron was last modified: February 21st, 2016 by Eli

I'm a book blogger at the The Silver Words and a former blogger at Tweens Read Too. Fantasy is my first love, but I'm also coming to enjoy a lot of contemporary and classic lit. When I'm not blogging, you can find me reading, writing, coding, studying, swimming and skiing. Ice cream is love; the puns are always intended. Find me on Twitter @thesilverwords

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